THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH is a dazzling spectacle of life behind the scenes with Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus, the best three-ring circus in the land. The great showman Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed this splashy, colourful look at life under the big top. Charlton Heston stars as Brad Braden, the beloved .. Read more
| Starring | Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton |
|---|---|
| Director | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Genres | Drama |
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THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH is a dazzling spectacle of life behind the scenes with Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus, the best three-ring circus in the land. The great showman Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed this splashy, colourful look at life under the big top. Charlton Heston stars as Brad Braden, the beloved circus manager who runs a tight ship with integrity and a big heart. In an effort to bring in enough money to guarantee a full tour, Brad hires the Great Sebastian (Cornel Wilde), a daredevil trapeze star, to replace his girlfriend, Holly (Betty Hutton), a beautiful and talented trapeze artist who had been promised the coveted centre-ring spot. Sebastian, a suave ladies' man, instantly takes a liking to Holly despite their jealous rivalry. Holly and Sebastian carry on their feud high in the air, with an audience watching, performing a dangerous show of one-upmanship. While the two duel in the air, sparks fly on the ground, and Brad is too busy running the grand show to notice. This gutsy star-studded spectacle was produced in cooperation with Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey circus and filmed in a pseudo-documentary style, with frequent cuts from the full-scale grandiose circus acts and larger-than-life costumes by the legendary Edith Head to real footage of the daily life on the road for the full-scale travelling operation. Jimmy Stewart co-stars in a gem of a role, as Buttons the clown, who is hiding from a mysterious past. This cavalcade of jaw-dropping visual splendour, complete with lions, elephants, and an action-packed train wreck of a finale, is DeMille at his grandiose best. Look for many small guest appearances from circus stars and celebrities, including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
| Starring | Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton |
|---|---|
| Director | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Studio | PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 27 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Collections | Best Picture Oscar Winners |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 1952 To Rent: DVD: 12 Feb 2007 |
Characteristically elephantine Big Top epic from DeMille, thumped across with a winning brashness and garnering the... read more on Time Out
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The greatest show on earth
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH is a dazzling spectacle of life behind the scenes with Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus, the best three-ring circus in the ... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
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The greatest show on earth
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH is a dazzling spectacle of life behind the scenes with Ringling Bros.-Barnum and Bailey Circus, the best three-ring circus in the ... read more »
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The Old Ones are the best
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS | Show review anywayHide
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Bore
I don't know why oscar was given to this movie.Nothing to talk greatly about except the scenes on trapeze.No good story and main protogonist doesnlt do ... read more »
There was nothing small about Charlton Heston. He was a big, lusty man, with a scowl that might have been chiselled out of granite, a famously noble brow, and the kind of sculpted upper torso he was happy to show off well into middle age. It was a physique built for Cinema-Scope. With the movies' fighting television for audiences in the 1950s, Heston was the man of the hour. Cecil B De Mille cast him as the circus master in The Greatest Show On Earth (Best Picture winner in 1952), then as... Read more
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